


Kind eyes

by armadillo1976



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28135932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armadillo1976/pseuds/armadillo1976
Relationships: Hernando Fuentes/Lito Rodriguez/Daniela Velasquez
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Kind eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spiderfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderfire/gifts).



Looking back, Paris seems unreal, more a mirage than a memory. Did it all really happen? It did, right? But how? It is like thinking about the limits of the universe: you’re not going to grasp it anyway, and you are just going to end up with a headache for your trouble.

They go back their separate ways immediately after the wedding. Movies to make, criminals to catch, practicalities of polyamory across species and continents to work out.

Mind-bogglingly, life in general is quite unchanged.

“’The up-and-coming Mexican actor of Spanish descent’, I’m apparently now supposed to call you,” says Hernando from the poolside lounger.

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking or proud,” Dani stretches out on her towel. “God, I’m tired. Today as been _hard_ , hasn’t it, Mr _Up-and-coming_?”

Lito looks up from the pool, where he is half-hanging off a giant unicorn float, green smoothie in hand. For a second, all he wants to do is take care of her, cover her gently with a sun-warmed towel – except then his mind registers how Hernando’s face is creased with suppressed laughter, how Dani’s lips are pouting in fake innocence.

“What is it with the two of you and the constant innuendo here in LA? Is it something in the water?”

“ _Someone_ in the water, you mean?”

It’s too bad about the smoothie, but it stands no chance among the splashing. They all end up inside the pool. As it turns out, a giant unicorn offers just the right support for making out.

They managed to snag the last three tickets for the direct flight from Charles de Gaulle to LAX for the day after the wedding, arriving – eyes gritty, shirts crumpled, hearts in their throats – on the very morning the shooting was scheduled to non-negotiably begin.

“Good to see you, and please know we are all deeply thankful you decided to grace us with your presence,” Kit greets them when they make it to the set, voice dripping with sarcasm. But then his assistant rushes in to drag him to where problems are inevitably beginning to arise, and the next time they see one another, it is Camera!, and Action! and Noooooo oh no no this is leaving me completely cold, take it from the top, make me cry!, and just like that it all seems forgiven and forgotten.

The first round of shooting is only one week long. After that, they are breaking up the set and moving it to Prague.

“Lito, we’re scheduled to reconvene in 26 days exactly. I don’t want to lose momentum. So you do Jordi, think Jordi, sleep Jordi, eat Jordi, fuck Jordi, whatever you do, don’t lose it for the 26 days, ok? I hate the break, but our Blake here has prior commitments. That’s what you get for working with stars, people imagine it’s so magnificent, but here’s the truth: it’s majorly inconvenient, and more importantly the logistics are an absolute nightmare. So let me tell you this: no more waiting for you! No more ‘it’s his process’! You, Daniela – I’m making you personally responsible for bringing him to Prague on time, you hear me, you have to deliver him exactly on schedule, if you have to tie him up him and ship him in a cage, you go ahead and do that, or you will feel my wrath for years to come, and I’m not even joking,” so all right, Kit can be pretty scary when he gets worked up like that, but she can do that, she can deliver Lito to Prague on time. Probably? Barring a telepath emergency? From what she understands, those are expected to taper off now.

So maybe it isn’t exactly all forgotten, but it does seem forgiven for the most part. That’s fine, she can live with that.

Back in their apartment in Mexico City, there is a soft knock on her bedroom door and then Hernando comes in without waiting for her to answer, balancing two cups of coffee and a plate of cookies on a tray.

“May I…?”

“Sure! Mmm, coffee. You’re reading my mind.”

“I try,” he tips his imaginary hat to her and sits down on the bed, placing the tray in the space between them. “I was hoping to talk to you? Wanted to ask if you maybe wanted to talk to me?”

“Always! You know I love talking to you. About, though…?”

“Well…,” he counts out on his fingers, “people getting telepathically tortured, emergency trips to Europe, Eiffel Tower weddings, people who are internet dead, metaphysical orgies,” he runs out of fingers and continues on his other hand, “evil prisoners, rocket launchers, mind-controlled zombies, getting more than you bargained for, maybe?”

“Just for the record, I had prior experience with rocket launchers.”

“Joaquin?”

“My dad, actually.”

Hernando’s eyes widen in horror and she waves her had dismissively.

“Never mind, not the point.”

Hernando takes a cookie off the plate and dunks it slowly in his cup. It nearly crumbles in his hand before he can get it in his mouth; he picks the crumbs off with his tongue.

“Dunking, quelle horreur! What are you doing?” She goes on the offensive to override the feeling that she wants to take his hand and kiss his fingers slowly one by one. Now is not the time.

“Try it! Kala showed me, she says you have to use this specific brand, they’re really good this way.”

“Na-ah, no thank you!”

She drinks the coffee quietly for a moment, then rests her chin on her hands.

“I don’t think talking is going to help much. I mean, what can you say? What can I say? Apart from: wow can Sun move, I want to move like she does. I mean, for real. I am going to set up lessons whenever we have – well. Jobs and schedules and so on. If I can get one tenth as good as she is, it would be fantastic. To be able to use my body like that. Yeah.”

He nods, and she feels embarrassment and shame flare bright somewhere deep inside her the moment she understands that he knows why.

“But beyond that… I don’t know. Are you going to be all philosophical about it?”

He looks up, pretend-scornful, but sounds sincere when he speaks.

“First of all, I want to say that I am infinitely grateful for the fact that you were there too. You’ve seen what I’ve seen. I don’t know if I’d be able to trust my senses, or my memory, otherwise. I’d trust Lito for sure. But it’s one thing to believe that he visits seven other people in his mind. Strange, sure, but stranger things have happened. Well, probably. Not to me. But, in any case, it is quite another thing to meet these people – atop the Eiffel Tower no less – in an actual room, and then… have sex with them, in my mind…? I’m not even sure what words to use to describe it.”

“Mmmm. I know what you mean, don’t get me wrong.”

“But?”

“Hm?”

“There’s going to be a ‘but’, no?”

“Yeah,” she laughs. He knows her well.

“I’m just going to roll with it, you know? I mean, you’re the only person I’d possibly have to describe it to, right? And I don’t have to, because you were there. So I don’t have the words either, but I don’t really need them. So it’s not really a problem, is it?”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

That is not something Hernando can accept, of course. They talk a lot. For a man who claims to have no fitting words, he sure seems to have plenty of them to try on for size anyway. Dani loves listening to him; if she checks out a bit from time to time, she hopes he doesn’t notice, knows he won’t really mind.

Lito comes back from the gym, showers, climbs into bed with them, provides bits and pieces of information in response to Hernando’s questions, gets bored, orders food on his phone, cajoles them to come out to the terrace and eat a proper dinner.

“I have a suggestion,” he says while tipping the food out of the containers and into bowls. “Maybe it would be nice for you if you were in touch with the others? Amanita for example, she seems so knowledgeable. And Mun, or Rajan? Capheus’s girlfriend?”

“Zakia,” says Dani. “She had a great dress at the wedding. Understated but exactly the right cut.”

“Good idea,” says Hernando.

But he does nothing about it that day, or the next day, or the day after that. Daniela remembers how he wanted to talk to her, how he probably still wants to talk. She is not a fan of wasting time.

“Seriously? The Paramours?” Hernando wiggles the phone in her direction the first thing the next morning.

“I’m being… proactive,” she says.

“And I’m totally on board with that, but honestly, what’s with that name?”

“Do you have a more adequate one?”

Hernando doesn’t, and that is that.

She made a WhatsApp group and called it, yes, The Paramours, because it was late and it was hurting her brain to try to figure out a good name and besides, she just wanted to go ahead with it before she lost her nerve. The name is a lie in more ways than one, because most of the sensates end up in the group too. (Not Lito, though. Lito is Jordi, and Jordi doesn’t do social media).

Bug jumps in the group chat immediately to tell everyone to at least – at the very least! – move it to Signal. He posts a bunch of links and also some pictures with words that Daniela thinks are presumably memes and therefore presumably funny, though she is clearly not in on the joke. Then he disappears. From time to time, a message pops up in the group chat labelled Undisclosed Numer: a Google Maps pin showing what appears to be a noodle place in Seoul with a note saying “brilliant” and an incomprehensible string of emoji; a review of a book dissecting bourgeois capitalism / the entrenched patriarchy / the climate-migration-industrial complex; a super-enthusiastic review of one of Lito’s most obscure movies in a local newspaper in New Zealand. They all wordlessly assume that these notes are from Bug.

Felix wanders in from time to time, good-naturedly taunts Wolfgang about his football allegiances (?!), dance moves (?!?!) and taste in sneakers (?!?!?!), and then disappears again.

Mun rarely participates, other than to add thumbs-up emoji to anything Sun says.

Nomi (via Amanita) declares the WhatsApp group a great idea, and Amanita drops them snippets of academic papers, YouTube links and pictures of her hand-written notes nearly every day. She talks about her book, and keeps them up to date on her search for the best croissants. She is her lovely, warm, spirited self. Dani finds her intimidating.

Riley, to the surprise of absolutely no one, becomes their music person. She shares playlists. She links up shows. She makes little videos of herself goofing around with music in her home, shy but welcoming.

Will drops in often, makes little jokes, offers bits of small talk, waits for the conversation to take hold and then withdraws, comes back with questions a while later. They make fun of Will, always the police officer, but just a tiny bit, careful not to make him think they actually mind.

Kala is not around every day, but she shows up regularly. They would not be surprised if she simply had a note on her calendar: this week, Tuesday at 7:00 pm, Saturday at 8:00 am, The Paramours. Next week, Tuesday after the tailor’s appointment, plus Friday at 12:00. She is by far the most formal of them, never forgets to ask about their families, parents, siblings. She remembers their special dates, anniversaries, names of their pets.

Radjan gets Capheus into big Indian dance sequences, delights in sending him YouTube videos with the most notorious movie dance routines, gleefully insists that fight choreography and dance choreography are almost the same thing. Going by how little resistance there seems to be on Capheus’s part, he might not need much persuading.

Zakia never really starts conversations, but will join in sometimes, add short but thoughtful comments. She seems very reserved, and so when Dani’s _morning all!_ is met with a _Good morning! :-)_ popping up immediately in response, from Zakia, she is intrigued.

 _hey you!_ , she types.

_Hi :-)_

_aaaargh I need coffee. got any coffee over there? ;-)_

_Sorry, no :-) I actually want some too._

_wait is it morning where you are? are you and C at that conference?_

_Workshop, yes. Not morning. 3pm._

_where are you? hotel?_

_B &B. There is a café nearby. I was just going to get dressed to go out._

_oh btw wanted to ask you about that dress you wore at the wedding_

_it was awesome_

_where was it from?_

_Thank you! I made it :-) With a little help from a friend in Nairobi._

_noooo_

_:-)_

_can you make me one just like that?_

_Sure, if you come in for a fitting!_

_yeah the cut & fit was everything, I know, boo_

Dani throws on a robe and moves over to the kitchen. She puts the phone down on the counter but picks it up again, finds herself wanting to keep texting.

_so where are you guys now actually, like where on the map?_

_Stellenbosch_ , Zakia once again responds right away.

Dani drinks the espresso in one quick go, sets the machine to make another cup, feels indecisive, feels annoyed at herself for the indecisiveness, and finally decides to go for it.

 _DM,_ she types and starts a direct message to Zakia only, off the group chat.

_why no coffee in Stellenbosch?_

_Oh they have coffee._

_they do but you don’t?_

The three dots that signal that Zakia is writing stay on the screen for a long, long time.

 _That about sums it up_ , says the message when it finally drops, followed by a shrug emoji.

When Lito comes into the kitchen a while later, he finds Dani cross-legged in a chair, still in her robe but now also with a cardigan wrapped around her arms, two empty espresso cups and bits of orange peel scattered around her.

“Did you know that?” She turns towards him. “Capheus is at this leadership skills workshop that he got sponsored to go to, and it is held in this place just outside of Cape Town, Stellen-something, I forget what it’s called, but anyway he is at the university now, doing the workshop. Now get this: this university used to be like, white, or racist, or something like this? An Afrikaans campus, Zakia says, whatever that means. And these days it is supposed to be better, but Zakia is in the B&B where they are staying and there’s a café outside and the students that are hanging out there were actually harassing her when she went out! Like, harassing her because she is black! And she is waiting for Capheus to come back but she is afraid they might harass him too.”

“Well, that’s not going to end well for them, is it,” says Hernando, emerging from the bedroom.

“I didn’t know, no,” says Lito, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Zakia says she doesn’t want any trouble. I don’t think she’s feeling all that great there. I kind of got the feeling that she’s only flown there with him in the first place because she didn’t want Capheus to be there alone.”

“South Africa is complicated,” yawns Hernando as he puts a slice of toast in the toaster. “Can you check in with Capheus, make sure he knows what he might be walking into?”, he says to Lito, giving him a hug in passing, and then to Dani, who comes over to the kitchen counter: “Say hi to Zakia from me!”.

“Sure,” says Lito.

“Sure,” echoes Dani, steals the toast just as it pops up. “Ouch, hot hot hot! God I’m hungry.”

_Hernando says hi_

_Lito will check in with C & let him know_

_Hi back!_

_And please thank Lito from me. Thanks._

“She says hi back to you,” she gestures with one hand, “and thank you to you,” with the other. “Can I get one more toast, please and thank you? I’ll be in bed.” She starts for her bedroom pretending she doesn’t see the scandalized look on Hernando’s face. Might as well do something to really deserve it, she thinks, and grabs the plateful of grapes he just washed and carefully dabbed dry with a paper towel as she goes.

_I just stole Hernando’s grapes, will pay for it later for sure but hey, I got grapes. H is so sweet and tender with his fruit plates and I just can’t not steal them from him_

_Fruit thief :-) Pay for it how?_

_he will say, lets go see an exhibit in a museum, but hey, turns out it is a 3 hr lecture on some tiny detail in one obscure art work (and ugly)_

_not that I speak from experience ofc_

_or he borrows my fav scarf for an evening out and puts on his strongest cologne_

_on purpose_

_and then I have to smell him all the time when I wear the scarf later and he knows this does THINGS to me_

_you know_

_I know :-) So how are the three of you getting along these days?_

_good_

_no wait, great_

_H is so in love with Lito, I mean he thought Lito was a marvel even before obvs, but now that he is all that AND also like, telepathically tied to the universe, boom here goes his heart exploding with love_

_How about you?_

_I get to steal the grapes :-)_

_seriously though idk_

_Lito is running his lines or in the gym all the time, doesn’t seem to be visiting anyone I guess, and when he did it before I never noticed_

_like once when I was with him he opened a locked door, it was v cool, and now I know Wolfgang helped him do it but I never noticed anything strange about it at all_

_so idk, I don’t think much about it frankly_

_I’m his agent, glorified assistant really, for now_

_happy to do it for him_

_H is teaching ofc but not v busy otherwise_

_so it is mostly me and H hanging out_

_I’m surprised he’s not on the group chat more but he says that just knowing he can be in touch with all these sensate guys is enough for him right now_

_So you have become close?_

_very close_

_yeah_

_I must say I envy you very much._

_which part?_

_That you have Hernando right there to talk about it all._

_oh you should call him! you so should! he is dying to talk about it except I’m not really on his level with that stuff :-)_

_He has a curious mind._

_well that’s one way to put it_

_he’s super smart_

_tbh sometimes I hate that Hernando is so smart_

_a smart man who knows me very well, that’s fucking dangerous_

_Yes. True._

_Please tell him to call me any time! We’re here for another 3 days, I could use something to do. Also, Capheus is very blasé about the sensate & psycellium & limbic resonance stuff, so I’d be happy to ponder all that with another person in the know!_

_you can call him too, you know_

_might be better, he is shy_

Dani is so focused on re-reading that last message – psycellium?! – that Hernando slips by her completely unnoticed. He grabs a grape from the plate in passing, reaches into a drawer in her dresser and unerringly goes for the scarves. She rolls her eyes but then squeals in surprise when Hernando, in one quick smooth move, uses the scarf to bring her wrists together and tie a neat bow over them.

“Your phone, please,” he says, plucking it out of her fingers. “For the terrible offence of grand larceny that you committed – and clearly without remorse, to aggravate the matter – you will now suffer greatly! Shackled, manacled---”

“I’m not manacled!” She bursts out laughing.

“—yet! Yet!” He gets momentarily distracted, looking for another scarf, and then gives up half way through. “Oh, but Daniela Velasquez, let me tell you, it’s payback time.”

He sits up on the bed and looks at her with mischievous intent, but she is not one to play it safe. She leans forward and stares into his eyes with an intensity that takes him by surprise. Lito comes over, peering through the door.

“Looks like someone is in trouble,” he says.

“Aren’t we all,” says Hernando. “But hey. A little trouble is a good thing. A great thing, really.”

“I’ll drink to that,” says Lito and raises his smoothie, toasting them with the green goo.

“Amen,” says Dani.

The phone rings. Hernando holds it out towards Dani, but her hands are still bound, so she points towards him with her chin: you answer! And he does. “Hello, Zakia!” He sinks into her armchair and settles in for a chat.

Dani looks at him, looks at Lito, looks at them both. She can’t hide the fondness in her eyes; doesn’t try.

So maybe Lito is not traditionally human – but really, if you have seen him in any of his movies, running unscathed through a shower of bullets, hypnotising women left and right, did that seem human to you? She wants him so much, and the psycellium doesn’t really enter into the whole Lito equasion.

So maybe Hernando – Hernando, who swallowed his pride and his dreams and picked her to be his lover’s lover, who picked her for her kind eyes – maybe he needs her to be kind to him in her own ways.

So maybe this is her happy ending, or at least her happy now. With her family, and the paramours, and Prague on the horizon. Yes. She’ll take that, and a bunch of grapes too, please and thank you.


End file.
